My Penpal the Kazekage
by Zammie4eva
Summary: 'This is harder than I though, writing Gaara' 'Do you know how hard it is writing to Naruto' a cute NaruGaa, may seem a little rushed. dedicated to xXxYaoi-GODDESSxXx
1. The Letter

**My Penpal the Kazekage**

'**It's more difficult than I thought, writing to Gaara.' 'Do you know how hard it is to write anything to Naruto?'**

**Pairings: NaruGaa obviously, as well as one-sided MatsuGaa.**

**Chapter one – the Letter**

"A letter? For me?" the Kazekage looked up at his sister in surprise.

"Yep. A letter for you, and I'll give you a hint, it's not political," Temari winked, handed him the letter and walked out of the office.

Gaara looked down at the envelope, feeling curious he peered at the untidy scrawl that made his name

Temari had told him it hadn't been political, and you could tell because it said 'Gaara' on the front and not 'Kazekage'.

And so he opened it.

_Gaara,_

_This is harder than I thought it would be, writing to you. I mean, I'm trying to be formal because you're Kazekage, but casual at the same time because you're my friend. And usually my letters are as scrambled as my thoughts, I get distracted and go off on tangents and become really irritating, so I'm trying not to do that with this letter. But now I don't know what to talk about, so what should I say? I haven't seen you in a while, how are you? I'm being run off my feet by baa-chan training me up to be Hokage, not that I'm not psyched or anything but, it's a lot of work. I've been training like crazy too, Kakashi-sensei says if I keep going the way I am, I'd be able to surpass Ero-sennin, but I don't think anybody can do that. But enough about me, how have you been? Your siblings okay? I hope they are, a lot of my friends are injured lately, but no one's died so that's good. Is Kankuro finished his puppets yet? We need him for a joint mission, to help train some of our puppet-masters, he doesn't have to, but he's the best and he'd be a good teacher. Oh, and Shikamaru told me to say hi to Temari. Well, okay he didn't but I know he wants me to, but don't tell Temari that I practically forced him to admit it. Anyway I've gone off topic, what I wanted to say was – HI GAARA! Temari was here earlier this month for the Chuunin Exams, which I _finally _passed, and said you were working almost non-stop, so take a break every now and then, no one expects you to be a robot 24/7 you know. At least I don't, I know you're only human, but then I guess most people still think you're some kind of non-human thing or something that never needs human comforts. I also wanted to tell you I was proud of you for becoming Kazekage, and at you're age too, I never really said it in our last meeting (mostly because I was still too happy that you were alive to say anything) but I really respect you for that. Not that I didn't respect you before. But anyway this letter is getting way long so I guess I'll to shut up before I bore you to death huh?_

_Naruto_

Gaara felt a curious warmth in his chest when he finished the letter. He knew Naruto detested writing in any form, so he was touched that he would take the effort to write him.

The young Kazekage raised a hand to his heart where the warmth was spreading, wondering on it before he realised it was happiness.

The same feeling he got when he became Kazekage, or was accepted by his siblings, or whenever he thought about Naruto

He picked up a pen and drew a spare piece of paper in front of him, pushing aside the documents on his desk he bent to reply to his friend.

He had just written Naruto's name on the paper when he stopped, what should he write?

_I'll start by answering his questions. _Gaara thought.

_Naruto, _he wrote.

_Thank you for your letter, it's nice to get mail that isn't Kage related for once. You don't need to be formal with me, you should know that, and if you ever call me Kazekage I will hurt you, _Gaara smirked a little at his humour, _because to you I am not a Kage, I am simply Gaara. Besides I like talking to you, because I know you'll understand, and you're easy to talk to in general. And don't worry about going off on tangents, I like hearing from you so I don't mind, and you're not irritating. To answer your question I'm doing fine, a little tired but that's nothing new. It's good to hear you're training to be Hokage, you shouldn't call Tsunade-sama old either. I think you'd be able to surpass Jiraiya-sama if you worked at it, after all it's every student's job to one day surpass their mentors. As I said before, I'm fine, Kankuro and Temari too, they've convinced me to eat dinner and breakfast with them instead of locking myself in my office. It's nice to have that time with them. I'm sorry to hear about your friends, I hope they're okay. I'll ask Kankuro about that joint mission for you. And I'll say hi to Temari from Shikamaru too. I don't care what Temari's told you I don't work that much…well maybe I do but it's not like I'm being forced to do it. But you're right, maybe I should take a break. I thank you for your acknowledgement, it is true that many people don't know I need other things humans do, I suppose I'm still an imposing figure to them. And Naruto…thank you, for being proud of me, and for respecting me, I had hoped to gain your respect one day, it's good to know I have achieved it. I've been meaning to ask a few things actually, but I never had the chance beforehand. How is your luck with bringing the Uchiha back for one thing, and please tell me you're eating properly, I know how you go for days with nothing but ramen, it's not healthy Naruto, eat a vegetable every now and then, for my sake at least, so I don't have to worry about your health as well as your safety. And be careful on missions for heaven's sake, I know how reckless you get, just because you're a Chuunin now doesn't mean you're invincible. Congratulations on that by the way. _

_Gaara._

Satisfied with his reply, he went up to the message station and used the bird from Konoha to send it. He knew he was going to like writing to Naruto.


	2. The First Reply

**My Penpal the Kazekage**

**letter two – Chapter two –Naruto's reply! NaruGaa will be in later chapters, I want to kind of ease into it, so don't worry it's in here, just not yet.**

**Chapter two – The First Reply**

"You're late Naruto," Sakura said irritably when Naruto finally showed up to training.

Naruto shrugged uncaringly and said nothing, which as Sai observed, 'wasn't like him'.

When Kakashi managed to turn up, he dismissed them almost immediately after because Captain Yamato was unavailable, and they needed him for training.

So Naruto trudged home, irritated at the lack of training for the day, and he got home in a bad mood.

When a bird pecked at his window, he got excited and let it in quickly. This must be Gaara's reply!

Slightly nervous, he opened the scroll and read his reply.

_Naruto_

_Thank you for your letter, it's nice to get mail that isn't Kage related for once. You don't need to be formal with me, you should know that, and if you ever call me Kazekage I will hurt you, because to you I am not a Kage, I am simply Gaara. Besides I like talking to you, because I know you'll understand, and you're easy to talk to in general. And don't worry about going off on tangents, I like hearing from you so I don't mind, and you're not irritating. To answer your question I'm doing fine, a little tired but that's nothing new. It's good to hear you're training to be Hokage, you shouldn't call Tsunade-sama old either. I think you'd be able to surpass Jiraiya-sama if you worked at it, after all it's every student's job to one day surpass their mentors. As I said before, I'm fine, Kankuro and Temari too, they've convinced me to eat dinner and breakfast with them instead of locking myself in my office. It's nice to have that time with them. I'm sorry to hear about your friends, I hope they're okay. I'll ask Kankuro about that joint mission for you. And I'll say hi to Temari from Shikamaru too. I don't care what Temari's told you I don't work that much…well maybe I do but it's not like I'm being forced to do it. But you're right, maybe I should take a break. I thank you for your acknowledgement, it is true that many people don't know I need other things humans do, I suppose I'm still an imposing figure to them. And Naruto…thank you, for being proud of me, and for respecting me, I had hoped to gain your respect one day, it's good to know I have achieved it. I've been meaning to ask a few things actually, but I never had the chance beforehand. How is your luck with bringing the Uchiha back for one thing, and please tell me you're eating properly, I know how you go for days with nothing but ramen, it's not healthy Naruto, eat a vegetable every now and then, for my sake at least, so I don't have to worry about your health as well as your safety. And be careful on missions for heaven's sake, I know how reckless you get, just because you're a Chuunin now doesn't mean you're invincible. Congratulations on that by the way. _

_Gaara._

Pumped by Gaara's reply, Naruto got to writing back at once.

_Gaara,_

_I shoulda known I don't have to be formal with you, but you know I was trying to be a bit mature, guess I don't have to be. You wouldn't seriously hurt me if I called you Kazekage would you? I'm kidding I know you wouldn't. You like talking to me? Thanks Gaara I like talking to you too, you know you're the only person to have ever said that to me, thanks. I hope Kankuro will take that mission, I haven't seen him in forever and I'd like to say hi. I'm glad to hear about your siblings, you of all people deserve a family like them. Though to be honest they kinda freaked me out at first. You should take a break, hey you could come here and visit me! I haven't seen you in way too long, you could stay with me, it'd be like a sleepover, I've never been to a sleepover before, but I bet it's fun. And yes I am eating properly, believe it or not, I started putting vegetables in my ramen, it's good because all I can taste is the ramen and not the veggies. You don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine, but thank you for caring to worry yourself. I'll be fine on missions I'm ready for anything! Well, when I say anything…I dunno, I'm really nervous about being Hokage, I'm starting to think I'm not responsible enough or something, I dunno I don't think I'm ready for it. I mean you did it so I guess I can do it too, and it's not like I'm gonna give up, but I'm still kinda down about. Whatever. It'll pass._

_Naruto_

Naruto quickly sent the reply with the bird, practically jumping up and down in excitement in wait of Gaara's next reply. It was a good idea to decide to write to Gaara after all.


	3. Losing Confidence

**My Penpal the Kazekage**

**Disappointment ahead! Could this be the letter that breaks Naruto's heart, or let him fall for his penpal? Let's find out!**

**Chapter three – Losing Confidence**

Gaara ran a hand through his blood red hair, feeling more tired than normal.

Kankuro came in, carrying a letter. "It's from your boyfriend," he teased with a grin.

Gaara glared. "Just because I receive mail from my friend and you don't, does not mean you are entitled to make ridiculous remarks." He said smartly.

Kankuro shrugged and placed the letter on the table, leaving the office afterwards with a sly grin.

One Gaara didn't like at all.

He sighed and opened the letter from Naruto. Reading it he frowned.

Gaara payed attention to the last bit mostly, the part where Naruto seemed to be losing confidence in himself.

That wasn't like him. Gaara wondered what was wrong with his blonde friend.

He quickly wrote a short reply.

_Naruto,_

_This isn't like you at all. The Naruto I know is always brimming with confidence. Don't lose your focus, thinking like that will get you nowhere._

_Gaara._

He really didn't have time to write more, he had a lot of paperwork to do, so he sent the reply as it was.

He liked that Naruto had told him he liked talking to him, even though they hadn't spoken face-to-face in a while.

Maybe he should take up Naruto's offer to visit Konoha after all.

**Oh a short one, the next chapter will be longer I promise.**


	4. A Cold Reply

**My Penpal the Kazekage**

**Naruto's reaction to Gaara's letter! Will his words of encouragement help him overcome his fear?**

**Chapter four – A Cold Reply**

Naruto trudged through the village, feeling sore from his latest mission and eager to have some ramen and go home.

He stopped off at Ichiraku's on his way home.

"One bowl please ojii-san!" Naruto called taking a seat.

"Sure Naruto, this one's on the house for my favourite customer," Teuchi said. (1)

"Ah thanks ojii-san you're the best!" Naruto grinned digging in.

After he ate he went home and had a hot shower to relax his muscles. When he got out he found a messenger bird waiting for him.

He opened the letter and read the few words written in Gaara's neat script.

_Naruto,_

_This isn't like you at all. The Naruto I know is always brimming with confidence. Don't lose your focus, thinking like that will get you nowhere._

_Gaara._

Naruto stared at the paper for the longest time. Gaara's reply sounded pretty cold to him. Was he telling him to just get over it?

What, because he was Naruto, the hero that saved the Hidden Leaf Village, did that mean he wasn't allowed to have insecurities?

Didn't he get time to doubt himself, did he always have to breeze through life with a stupid smile on his face no matter what the situation?

He wasn't a machine!

Maybe Gaara could do that, but he couldn't, he was human too!

Why was Gaara treating him like a jinchuriki?

Outraged and hurt, Naruto threw away the letter and let the bird go back to the message station, making a point not to write to Gaara again.

A knock on the door alerted him to Shikamaru's presence, if he hadn't been so upset he would have sensed him beforehand.

"Come in Shikamaru," he called.

Shikamaru opened the door and leaned against the wall in the hallway. "Tsunade-sama wants you to help with the Chuunin Exams," he said.

"Meaning?" Naruto asked flatly taking a sip of milk from his fridge.

"You'll need to help me sometimes, you'll have to work with some of the genin, training and such," Shikamaru replied.

"Do I have to be a moderator?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, for the final rounds," Shikamaru said.

Naruto nodded. "Okay. I'll report to her now,"

He left with Shikamaru to go to the Hokage Tower, Shikamaru looking at him strangely on the way.

_This isn't like Naruto at all. Did something happen? _He wondered.

"Alright baa-chan, give me the papers and I'll get it done," Naruto said walking into the office.

"Eh? No banter first?" Tsunade asked surprised at her favourite ninja's behaviour.

"I'm a busy man baa-chan, I haven't got time for this." Naruto said a little irritated.

"Oh – oh um, Shizune, the papers," Tsunade said, quite freaked out by Naruto's tone.

"Yes Tsunade-sama," Shizune passed him the papers and he nodded in thanks before leaving the office.

"What happened to Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"I don't know. He's seems upset about something," Shikamaru replied looking after the direction where Naruto went.

He was worried about the blonde, what had happened to make him so…cold?

~three weeks later~

-Sunagakure -

"Nothing from Naruto?" Temari asked looking at her brother.

Gaara stood at the edge of the training field in Suna, watching Kankuro instructed future genin in puppet-techniques.

He shook his head. "Nothing." He said. He sighed and looked away. "I think I may have said something wrong, he's seems to be mad at me," he said unhappily.

"Why would he be mad with you Gaara?" Temari asked.

"I may have been…cold in my last letter. I think he took my words in the wrong context, I didn't mean to upset him but…I can see how he came to that conclusion." Gaara said.

"Well, why not send him a letter?"

"He's not answering me."

"Hmm…well you're required to go to the Chuunin Exams, you could go early and use that time to talk to Naruto," Temari suggested.

Gaara looked over a Kankuro, thinking about his sister's suggestion. "I trust the village to you then Temari, don't let Kankuro burn the place to the ground while I'm gone," he said finally.

Temari laughed. "I won't. Have a nice trip Gaara," she said.

**Boom things explode! Can Gaara make it up to Naruto, or will the blonde resist any attempts at contact? Find out next chapter! (1) I don't know if that's the Ichiraku's guy's name is Teuchi, if not can anyone tell me what it is and I'll replace it.**


	5. An Unexpected Arrival

**My Penpal the Kazekage**

**This chapter: Gaara comes to Konoha! How will Naruto react?**

**Chapter four – An Unexpected Arrival**

Gaara was nervous standing in the Hokage's office. He had informed her he was arriving early for the Chuunin Exams and she had just sent for an escort for him.

He had no idea how to approach Naruto, or even how to start. If his assumption was right and his words had hurt Naruto, how did he breech the subject?

Gaara had no experience with this kind of thing, he was terrible at it being who he was, as Naruto should know.

His thoughts were cut short when the door opened.

Gaara turned and saw the very object of his thoughts. Naruto didn't even look at him. "You sent for me Hokage-sama?" he asked flatly. Gaara was shocked at the blonde's tone.

The Hokage sighed deeply and nodded. "The Kazekage has come for the Chuunin Exams, I'd like you to escort him to the Leaves in the Wind Hotel if you please," he said.

Naruto nodded and bowed deeply to Gaara. "Follow me Kazekage-sama," he said striding out of the room. Gaara had no choice but to hurry after him.

Gaara bit the inside of his lip nervously as they went through the village. Naruto was silent and withdrawn, almost like Gaara himself, and it made it harder for him to breech the subject of the letter.

"Naruto –"

"Yes Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara frowned. "Stop calling me that, I told you I am just Gaara to you," he half-snapped.

"Forgive me Kazekage-sama, but I was under the impression that all your subordinates were to address you accordingly," Naruto said flatly.

"You are not a subordinate Naruto," Gaara said.

"I am not a Kage, only a Chuunin, therefore I am Kazekage-sama," Naruto retorted.

"Oh for Heaven's sake Naruto!" Gaara stopped walking and Naruto was forced to halt and turn to him. "Stop doing this!" Gaara ordered.

"Whatever you wish Kazekage –"

"Shut up! Just shut up and listen to me for once if you pathetic life, listen to someone!" Gaara cut in.

Naruto's face was blank, then it contorted and he snorted in contempt. "Whatever Gaara. You're on your own," with that he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Gaara slammed his head against a wall roughly, the sand preventing it from actually hitting.

"I am not off to a good start," he muttered.

He went off to find him. As he expected, he found Naruto perched atop the Hokage Monument.

Taking a deep breath, Gaara composed himself and stepped forward.

"Go away Gaara." Naruto said flatly. "Go treat someone else like a jinchuriki,"

Gaara was stunned. _That's_ what he thought he was doing?

"Naruto…" he knelt down beside the angry blonde, he was going to place a hand on his shoulder when Naruto abruptly batted it away.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped. "Don't touch me, just leave am alone if I'm so pathetic,"

Gaara looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry I called you that Naruto," he said.

"No you're not." Naruto retorted.

"Naruto!" Gaara pinned the blonde's wrists to the ground so he was flat on his back, Gaara hovering over him.

Naruto's face was full of rage as he glared up at Gaara, his hands in fists and murder in his eyes.

"That was not my intention," Gaara said feeling that hate-filled expression killing him inside.

"You practically told me I can't have insecurities because I'm Naruto, do you know how that feels to have someone tell them what they can and can't feel, you are treatin me like a damn jinchuriki, don't feel so high and mighty just because your demon is gone now!" Naruto raged.

"I didn't meant it that way!" Gaara cried. He squeezed his eyes closed, blinking back tears, something he hadn't done since he was seven. He didn't want Naruto to hate him. He didn't want to fight anymore.

Evidently he failed, and his tears leaked out, dropping onto Naruto's face, which turned from angry to stunned.

"Gaara…"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry Naruto I'm sorry, I never meant to upset you, I didn't want to hurt you, you're the last person in the world I'd want to hurt! You know I'm terrible at this, I didn't mean to treat you like a jinchuriki, I'm so sorry!" he let go of Naruto's wrists and bowed his head in Naruto's jacket, soaking it with tears.

"Please don't hate, I couldn't stand it if you hated me, please don't hate me Naruto," he sobbed.

"Gaara…Gaara let me up," Naruto said.

Gaara let go of him and sat up, looking away with his eyes squeezed closed. Naruto hugged him and he froze.

"I'm sorry Gaara, I've been an idiot. I'm sorry I made you cry Gaara," Naruto wiped away the tear tracks from Gaara's cheeks and Gaara felt his face heat up.

"Can you forgive me?" Naruto asked.

Gaara shook his head. "I wasn't ever mad at you Naruto, there's nothing to forgive," he said.

"Oh Gaara," Naruto chuckled nervously. "Here I am being such a jerk and making you upset and you tell me there's nothing to forgive. I really am pathetic,"

"No you're not," Gaara argued. "You're amazing. And incredible, you can make it through anything, I truly believe that."

Naruto blushed. "I don't deserve you as a friend," he said.

"No." Gaara greed with a small smile. Naruto looked at him in surprise, but Gaara wasn't done.

"You deserve me as much more than that," Gaara kissed him before Naruto could protest, but Naruto didn't mean.

He chuckled into the kiss and held Gaara close to him. Gaara pulled back and rested his head on Naruto's shoulder.

"I thank whatever force made you Sabaku no Gaara," Naruto said.

Gaara smiled. "And I thank the day I met you Naruto."

Naruto chuckled and kissed his redhead.

**I'd like to say they lived happily ever after, but if I did, then there'd be no more fanfiction :(**

**So I'm just going to leave it at THE END! SEE YOU NEXT TIME!**


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